


A light among the stars

by Alexander_Daeqirelle



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Thanos (sigh), the ending is sad but i mean have you seen endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 22:25:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19094284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexander_Daeqirelle/pseuds/Alexander_Daeqirelle
Summary: After the snap, Carol and Natasha meet and they grow closer together (because five years is way too long to spend alone marvel why).





	A light among the stars

**Author's Note:**

> Happy very early birthday Von! This one's for you :)

23 days. That’s how long it had been since the world ended. 23 days since they failed at stopping Thanos. 23 days since Thanos snapped his fingers and half the world disappeared. 23 days since they _lost_. And lost was exactly the word Natasha would use to describe how she felt right now. Sam, Wanda, Bucky… they all died. Clint was alive but God knows where and no one knew what happened to Peter and Tony. They were gone and so was Thanos and no one really knew where to go from here.

But after 23 long days there was finally some good news. Finally a development for the better. Bruce, Steve, Thor, Rocket, Rhodey, Pepper and Natasha were cleaning up after dinner when Rhodey called out that something big was approaching outside. They all headed outside to see a giant space ship flying towards to compound, seemingly carried on flashes of pure energy. But Natasha didn’t really have the time to think about that. There was only one thought in her mind, one feeling she hadn’t felt for the past 23 days. Hope. Could it be Tony and Peter? After all they were the only ones she knew who had gone to space. Would they really get them back?

The ship landed, the doors opened and even though Tony looked different and, let’s face it, a lot worse than she had ever seen him, there was no doubt it was him. Natasha felt the relief wash over her as she walked towards him. She looked past her friend and saw someone else, a woman she didn’t know, but… “I lost the kid,” Tony whispered as he practically fell into Steve’s arms and her heart sank.  _ fifty percent.  _

While Tony reunited with Pepper and the others welcomed him and the new girl, Nat noticed for the first time the other woman. She was glowing with the same energy that had carried the ship and the former assassin quickly put two and two together. She must have carried it here. Fascinated and even more grateful for her friend’s return she went over to greet her and as she approached the woman turned around and the glowing faded. Their eyes met and for a brief second, Natasha’s breath caught in her throat. “Thank you,” she breathed out, unable to look away. “You’re welcome,” the space woman answered as they shook hands, her voice relaxed as if she had just returned from a trip to the grocery store instead of having single handedly flown an entire ship through space. Her voice was as captivating as her eyes. “I assume he’s a friend of yours? Where is Fury by the way? I need to talk to him. I’m Carol, Carol Danvers.” Natasha quickly collected herself before she replied. “I’m Natasha Romanoff. Fury’s not here. I’m afraid he got dusted too.” She cast her eyes downwards now. “I’m sorry. We’re all that’s left.” Carol nodded. “Then we’ll have to fix it ourselves. Can I come in?” “Yes, yes of course,” Nat answered quickly, too quickly maybe, and they followed the others inside. 

When Tony was looked after and the two space women, Carol and, so she learned, Nebula, had introduced themselves, they were finally able to catch up on what happened but there were so many unresolved issues that it didn’t take long before the emotions in the room skyrocketed. 

“And I needed you, as in past tense that trumps what you need! It’s too late buddy, sorry and I believe I remember telling all of you, alive and otherwise, that what we needed was a suit of armour around the world, remember that, whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not that’s what we needed! I said we’d lose, you said “we’ll do that together too”. Guess what Cap, we lost and you weren’t there, but that’s what we do right, our best work after-the-fact we’re the Avengers, we’re the a-vengers not the pre-vengers right. I’ve got nothing for you Cap, I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options, zero zip nada no trust,  _ liar.” _

And as Tony finally spoke everything he had wanted to say for a long time and almost literally fell apart, Natasha could only sit there and silently choke back her tears. She knew he was right, but it hurt so much to see them fight again, to see this pain and she could only hope that they would be able to somehow fix this. They all had already lost so much. She couldn’t bear to lose another friend. 

Later, when most of them had already gone to get some rest, Natasha still sat in the living room with her midnight snack, which these days often took the shape of vodka. She was sipping from her glass when she heard footsteps behind her as Carol approached. She nodded to the bottle on the table. “Mind if I join you?” Natasha reached over to hand her a glass. “All yours.” There was silence for a few moments as Carol poured herself a drink and sat down on the other side of the table. They stared out of the window, up at the stars for a few seconds until Carol spoke.

“That was quite the confrontation earlier. I hope that doesn’t happen here a lot.”

Natasha huffed. “Only between them really. There was a whole thing before Thanos. The press even called it civil war.” She sighed. “Two captains on one ship, this is what you get.” 

“I thought only Rogers was a captain,” observed Carol but her eyes twinkled. 

Natasha rolled her eyes but couldn’t help a small smile.  “Word is you’re one too.” 

Carol raised her eyes in surprise. “Really? Damn Nick, I bet he’s behind this. But don’t worry,” she grinned at Nat. “I’ll make the other two behave.” 

She returned the smile. “I’m counting on it.” 

They watched the stars a little longer and Natasha silently wondered which ones Carol had seen up close, what planets she had been on, which alien civilizations she had visited. She must have so many stories to tell and a part of her wanted to ask her to tell them to her. But she didn’t. Instead she finished her drink and stood. 

“I should probably get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight.”

Carol silently watched her leave.

“Goodnight.” 

..........

“He used the stones again,” Natasha spoke, carefully studying the hologram in front of her. 

“Hey, hey, hey, we’d be going in shorthanded you know,” Bruce jumped in, knowing what she was thinking. 

“Look he still got the stones so…” Rhodey spoke.

“So let’s get them.” Carol said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Natasha held back a smile. She liked her already, definitely with this attitude. “We’ll use them to bring everyone back.”

“Just like that?” Bruce sounded unbelieving. 

“Yeah,” Steve nodded. “Just like that.” 

“Even if there’s a small chance that we can undo this, I mean, we owe it to everyone who is not in this room to try.” Faces flashed before Natasha’s eyes as she spoke. They lost this war. Now they had to fix it. They had to. Whatever it took. 

Bruce still wasn’t entirely convinced. “If we do this, how do we know it’s gonna end any differently than it did before?” 

“Because before you didn’t have me.” 

Natasha thought she had a point. Fury had trusted her, had even named the Avengers after her and after the way she had saved Tony and Nebula… They were lucky to have her on their team. And when Steve said, “Let’s go get this son of a bitch”, Natasha really felt like they had a chance. She caught Carol’s eye and the two nodded to each other. Yes, let’s go get this purple son of a bitch. 

24 hours later and they were back to square one. No, worse. At square one there had still been hope. The knowledge that the stones were out there  _ somewhere.  _ And now they had nothing. No stones, no hope, no chance. Nothing. And just like that everyone seemed to give up. Tony and Pepper got their own place, Bruce and Rhodey left too, Steve finally got his own little place in New York, Thor went back to stay with his people and Carol was preparing to return to space. But Natasha had nowhere else to be. She would stay at the compound, hoping against hope that someday something might come up that they could use. Most of them promised to keep in touch though. Send in updates, have regular meetings. They at least had to try to keep things running. And before she knew it, Natasha was alone. The building suddenly felt big, too big for her alone. But she hadn’t even made it to the kitchen before the door opened again and Carol came in. “Hey.” She gave Nat a smile. “I forgot my jacket.” She walked over to the chair over which she had thrown it earlier but before she could turn around and leave again the widow’s voice stopped her. “Do you want to have dinner before you go? I was just about to cook anyway and I thought you might need the energy.” Carol hesitated for a second. “I appreciate that but I really should go. Space is big and I have a long way to go.” She gave Nat a worried look. “You going to be okay here?” Natasha smiled reassuringly. “Of course. Don’t forget to keep me updated.” “I won’t. Alright then, see you later.” “Bye.” She watched as Carol became a light among the stars and tried not to feel too disappointed. 

..........

Nearly three months passed. Natasha worked harder than she ever had before and given her history, that really meant something. She looked after even the tiniest possible lead, something,  _ anything,  _ that might help them. She took up dancing again. It brought back a lot of painful memories but she welcomed them all. They were a reminder of everything she had already worked through and after all this, she couldn’t give up now. 

One afternoon, as she was looking over the latest paperwork Rhodey had sent her, there was a knock on the door and a familiar face was waiting for her.

“Carol! Good to see you. What brings you here?” She motioned for her to come in and they made their way back to the living room where Carol nodded to Natasha’s workspace.

“I came to bring you some more stuff to read. I thought I’d deliver it in person this time.” She dropped her papers on the stack. “How have you been doing?” 

“I’m fine. Been working a lot. How’s space?”

“A mess.” Carol sighed and let herself fall into a chair. “But everyone’s trying to make the most of it. Do you have something to drink?” 

“Of course.” Natasha headed to the kitchen and returned with two glasses and a bottle that she handed to Carol, who gratefully accepted it.

“Thanks. How is everyone? Anyone been by?”

Natasha shook her head. “I don’t really hear from them apart from work. And you’re the only one who has stopped by since… you know.” She turned her head to give the space captain a small smile. The setting sun behind her made her blonde hair shine, almost like a halo and it suddenly hit Natasha how beautiful Carol looked in this light. Carols voice brought her back to reality and she quickly focused her attention on her drink. 

“Did you know there’s a whole planet of Tony Stark worshippers up there?” 

Natasha let out a laugh. The first in three months. “Really? Don’t let him hear that, he’ll never shut up about it.” They sat there together for a while, both thankful for the company until Carol finished her drink and decided she had to go back. As they both reached for the bottle their fingers brushed together for a moment and they both pulled away, causing the bottle to fall to the ground. The glass shattered with a crash, spilling the liquid everywhere. “I’m sorry, let me clean that up.” Carol looked around for a towel but Natasha shook her head. “No, no it’s okay, I got it.” And as she dumped the glass sherds in the trash she couldn’t help but wonder. What was it about this woman that made it so hard for her to keep it together? 

Their afternoon drinks soon became a habit. While everyone else send her their finds by email, Carol dropped by every few weeks to deliver them in person. And every time she heard her familiar knock on her door Natasha’s heart would skip a beat and she had to force herself not to run to open it. There was something about Carol that made everything seem a little less dull. She was a shining star in an otherwise these days rather dark world. Their drinks were one of the few joys the world still had left and Natasha never wanted them to end. So one afternoon, a little over a year after the snap, when Carol put her empty glass in the sink and made to leave, she casually threw in a “Why don’t you stay for dinner?” as if she hadn’t memorised a few recipes beforehand. Carol seemed to be taken by surprise but after a moment she answered “Sure”, and dropped her bag back on the ground. “What are we having?” “You tell me,” smiled Natasha, leading the space captain into the kitchen and opening the drawers to see what ingredients they had to work with. Eventually they settled on pasta. They were chatting away, Carol heating the water with her powers and Nat chopping the tomatoes, and sharing funny stories about the previous cooking attempts the kitchen had survived. “So we’re sitting there, it’s 8 pm and we’re all starving and wondering why it takes so long and then it turns out, Clint totally forgot to turn on the oven.” Carol bursted out laughing and Natasha marveled at the sound. It was easily the most beautiful thing she had ever heard. 

Dinner itself was equally enjoyable. Smiles come easy with Carol and it surprised Nat how comfortable and  _ familiar  _ this felt, almost as if they had dinner together every other night. For dessert they decided to share a tub of chocolate mousse. They sat closer to each other now so they could both reach it, their thighs almost pressed together and they both fell quiet as if they’re both aware of their closeness yet neither of them moved away. Natasha suddenly noticed every little detail about the situation. How their hands almost touched when they reached into the tub at the same time, the adorable freckles on Carol’s face, how Carol looked away every time Natasha looked at her, how she herself pretended not to notice Carol’s own stares. The tension rose and Natasha was uncharacteristically afraid to make a move but at the same time barely able to hold it together any longer. So when they finished their dessert and both put their spoons down it took only a few seconds until she reached over and very softly pressed her lips against Carol’s. They’re incredibly soft and she felt like she could melt and she wanted to, but then she suddenly realised what she’d done and pulled back, afraid she’s read the signals wrong, afraid she’d leave. But before she had a chance to speak Carol cupped her face and brought their lips together again, harder this time and she responded eagerly, parting her lips and slipping her tongue into Carol’s mouth. She could still taste the chocolate but there’s also something else that she couldn’t name and it’s so  _ Carol  _ and she loved it. Carol’s hands were on her face and she put her own hands on the other woman’s waist. She had no coherent thoughts whatsoever but she didn’t care and she had no idea how long they stayed together like this but it’s only when she desperately needed air that they broke apart. Breathing heavily she whispered: “Do you want…” and she didn’t need to finish that sentence before Carol answered “Yes.” They barely made it to the couch, hands freely exploring each other’s bodies and Carol was already half undressed by the time Natasha laid her down on the cushions. She paused for a moment to admire her, hardly able to believe that this literal angel was here, was  _ hers _ , and for the first time she’s happy she’s alone in the compound so she didn’t have to worry about unwelcome visitors who could ruin this night. A night that was only just about to begin. 

A ray of sunshine hit Natasha’s face and she groaned, already mad at herself. Why was she so stupid to not close the blinds? She always closed the blinds. She heard another groan and opened her eyes to find a blond haired goddess next to her, her arm draped over Natasha’s chest and she smiled, remembering how they had been a little too preoccupied to care about something so silly as closing blinds. “Morning sunshine,” she murmured, pressing a soft kiss to Carol’s cheek. “Hey you,” Carol smiled, her eyes still closed. Natasha thought it was the most adorable thing she had ever seen. “C’mon get up, I’m making breakfast.” 

The morning passed in a blissful haze, feeding each other Nat’s home made pancakes, lazy kisses that tasted like maple syrup, admiring how the sun caught Carol’s golden hair and made it glow. It was over too quickly when, as always, duty called but Carol promised that she would be back as soon as she could so they could spend more time together. And she kept that promise. Over the next months and later even years their relationship, because that was what they called it now, developed into a deep, wonderful love. No one else knew. This was theirs and theirs alone and Natasha was absolutely sure that this was the best thing that had ever happened to her, to them. But they were very brutally reminded that all good things come an end.

..........

Carol carefully scanned the chaotic battlefield below her. Avengers, Wakandans, Thanos’ monsters, they were everywhere as she desperately tried to catch a glimpse of her girlfriend’s bright red hair. But she couldn’t find her anywhere. “Natasha!” she called out. She knew it wasn’t the smartest thing to do mid-battle but it had been too long. She had to see her, had to know she was okay. “Natasha!” She could feel the panic start to rise in her chest. “Steve!” she yelled as she blasted one of Thanos’ minions into another dimension. “Where’s Natasha?” The other captain couldn’t bring himself to answer but the look on this face told Carol everything she needed to know and more than she wanted to. “No…” The noise of the fight going on around her faded to the background and if her energy hadn’t kept her upright she would have fallen to the ground. Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be her? This couldn’t be happening, this  _ shouldn’t _ be… One look at Thanos brought her back to the here and now and she felt the anger flaring up inside her. She would make that purple bastard pay, even if it was the last thing she did. 

..........

They buried her on a hill near Clint’s farm, outside the city where she would have a good view of the stars. Carol came by often. She barely spoke a word but could sit next to her for hours. And after her funeral, when everyone had left, she buried in the ground a small box with a ring in it, one she had had custom made on her last trip to space before the final battle. A constant, painful reminder of everything that could have been.  


End file.
